(Esteban L. Hernandez New Haven Register) Outside the U.S. District Courthouse in Hartford on Thursday, Sept. 10. The trial for one of the men accused of killing Kathy Hardy in 2006 after setting fire to her home started this week at the federal courthouse. less

(Esteban L. Hernandez New Haven Register) Outside the U.S. District Courthouse in Hartford on Thursday, Sept. 10. The trial for one of the men accused of killing Kathy Hardy in 2006 after setting fire to her ... more

Photo: Journal Register Co.

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Wife of suspect in Kathy Hardy trial testifies her husband was with her on day of arson/homicide

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HARTFORD >> On the morning that Kathy Hardy, 39, died as the result of a fire in her Branford home, one of the men charged with setting that fire was home packing for his upcoming stay at a drug rehabilitation center, the suspect’s wife testified Monday,

The defense rested its case Monday and the jury is expected to hear closing arguments Tuesday.

Martone’s wife, Sharon Martone, said she had taken March 6 and March 7, 2006, off from work so the couple could find a place in a drug treatment center for Steven Martone. Sharon Martone testified that she was aware of her husband’s ongoing drug problems, but later on cross-examination denied knowing he was using close to $200 of crack cocaine and heroin per day, as was indicated on his intake forms to the Stonington Institute on March 7, 2006. She said they both were working at the time and she assumed that’s where he got money for drugs.

On the morning of the fire, Sharon Martone testified she and Steven Martone were home packing to go to Stonington.

“I was very on edge to make sure he didn’t leave the house,” Sharon Martone said. “I was a very light sleeper.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Durham noted that Steven Martone’s intake forms at Stonington said that the last time he had used heroin had been the day he checked in, at 3:30 p.m. March 7, 2006. Sharon Martone said she was unaware of him using drugs that day.

Durham also explained to Sharon Martone during cross-examination that according to testimony from FBI special agent Samuel DiPasquale, Steven Martone had told law enforcement that he might have been out getting high on the morning of the fire, but he couldn’t remember. Sharon Martone said again that she knew Steven Martone was at home.

“Those two days, he was with me,” Sharon Martone said.

Sharon Martone’s testimony also explored events of a family Christmas party on Dec. 24, 2006. The defense played a video Sharon Martone said she had taken at the party. The video was stopped several times so Sharon Martone could identify individuals in it.

The home movie opened with a scene of Steven Martone and two small boys outside. Footage showed it was bright daylight outside and there was a party tent in the yard. The timestamp at the start of the video was 5:23 p.m. on Dec. 24, 2006.

“I have no reason to believe that my camera wasn’t playing the right time,” Sharon Martone said when Durham noted that the sun set at 4:25 p.m. on Dec. 24, 2006.

The last timestamp on the tape was just before 8 p.m. There was no footage of Sharon and Steven Martone leaving the party, but Sharon Martone said the couple left at about 8 p.m.

The defense focused most of its efforts Monday on discrediting the earlier testimony of a family relation regarding that Christmas party.

According to Armatino’s sister, Susan Martone, who held the Christmas party, Armatino is a “thief” and a “liar” and was not invited to the Christmas party that took place on Dec. 24, 2006. She testified she was not even aware at the time that he was out of jail and would have been able to attend.

Susan Martone told the jury that she hated her brother and that she has not contacted her brother since she learned of his involvement in the case. She testified that at some point after Steven Martone’s arrest in March 2014, she learned that Armatino had testified to the grand jury about his alleged conversation at the Christmas party in 2006.

“What I do know is that he’s a filthy liar for gain,” Susan Martone said of Armatino.

During Susan Martone’s testimony, the defense played a voicemail left at her house for her husband, Henry Martone, by Donald Armatino after Steven Martone was arrested.

Armatino could be heard saying, “I didn’t tell on f---ing (Steven). ... It hurts me to know you’re running around telling other people that I told on your brother, man.”

Susan Martone was also the registered owner of a white van at the time of the fire, which she testified was bought by her husband and used in a moving business. An eyewitness told the jury on the first day of testimony that he saw a white van leaving Hardy’s driveway minutes before smoke was seen coming from the house.

In Armatino’s testimony earlier in the trial, he said that he had purchased the vehicle and Steven Martone often drove the van when he was working for the moving company.

Other witnesses that the defense attempted to call in their presentation of evidence were Frank Ettore and Eric LaPenna, a man who had reported to law enforcement in 2006 that he witnessed an exchange of money and drugs for the slaying of Hardy.

Ettore is the son of Ursula Haesche, the woman from whom Hardy and her boyfriend allegedly stole $50,000 over the course of the year in which Haesche lived with the couple.

Jeremiah Donovan, lead defense attorney in the case, asked Ettore, outside the presence of the jury, a series of questions relating to Ettore’s relationship with others involved in the case, as well as a series of phone calls Ettore made the day before Hardy’s death.

Ettore refused to answer any questions and the government would not agree to grant him immunity.

Similarly, LaPenna answered every question posed by Donovan outside of the presence of the jury with the comment that he had been advised by his attorney to remain silent under his Fifth Amendment rights.

Given that the case remains under investigation, the government would not grant LaPenna immunity.

Durham told the court that LaPenna was granted immunity for the grand jury in an attempt to get the truth from him about what may or may not have transpired regarding a meeting in which money and drugs allegedly were exchanged for Hardy’s slaying. Durham said that in interviews with law enforcement, the dates of these meetings and who was present at each of them changed with every telling of the story.

In the end, a small portion of LaPenna’s grand jury testimony was offered into evidence. When the grand jury asked LaPenna to identify Steven Martone, he said, “I know who he is. I don’t know him.”

The jury had heard previous testimony from Armatino that LaPenna had told him about two alleged meetings in which he witnessed $1,000 and an ounce of crack cocaine be given in exchange for Hardy’s slaying in March 2006.